Ashley Lelie, in his third year out of Hawaii, will have more weight placed on his shoulders this season, but with the experience he has gained the past two years he should have no trouble rising to the occasion. With the offseason retirements of Ed McCaffrey and Shannon Sharpe, Lelie, in 2004, will be relied upon to step up and continue as the team’s down-the-field receiving threat. Playing 32 career games (11 starts), Lelie has caught 72 passes for 1,153 yards (16.0) with a long of 60 and four touchdowns. In 2003, he caught 37 passes for 628 yards and two touchdowns and his average of 17.0 yards per catch ranked second in the AFC (4th NFL). In his first season in Denver, Lelie led all AFC rookies in receiving yards (4th NFL) and ranked third among AFC rookies (6th NFL) in receptions. Also, his 35 catches were the most by a Broncos rookie since running back Terrell Davis caught 49 out of the backfield in 1995 and ranked as the fourth best rookie out put in Broncos history. For the season, Lelie caught three passes of 40 yards or longer, four passes of 30 yards or longer and nine passes of 20 yards or longer. He was the Broncos’ first-round selection (19th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.

• With 1,084 receiving yards on 54 catches, Lelie eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career.
• All seven of his touchdown receptions were longer than 30 yards (38, 37, 40, 35, 31, 39 and 33 yds.), and he led the NFL in touchdown receptions greater than 30 yards.
• With seven touchdown catches of 30 or more yards this season, he posted the second-highest single-season total of touchdown receptions greater than 30 yards in franchise history (behind Anthony Miller’s 10 in 1995).
• Lelie led the NFL with a 20.1 yards-per-reception average, a mark that is the franchise’s best in 17 years and fifth all-time.
• He posted the fourth 100-yard receiving game of his career and first this season at S.D. (12/5).
• Lelie recorded back-to-back six-catch games at Cin. (10/25) and vs. Atl. (10/31). • He made an acrobatic 33-yard touchdown catch in the end zone from Jake Plummer on fourth-and-9 vs. S.D. (9/26) that proved to be the game-winning score.
• Against the Panthers (10/10), he hauled in a 39-yard fourth-quarter Jake Plummer pass in the corner of the end zone that proved to be the game winner.

2004: Lelie’s size and ability to get down the field gave the Broncos’ offense a deep threat during the 2004 regular season, and he made several big plays in crucial situations on the way to leading the NFL in yards-per-reception average (20.1 avg.) in 16 starts. Lelie’s yards-per-reception average was the franchise’s highest total in 17 years and fifth-best all-time. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career in 2004, posting 1,084 yards on 54 receptions to rank second on the Broncos. All seven of Lelie’s touchdown receptions have been longer than 30 yards (38, 37, 40, 35, 31, 39 and 33 yds.), and he led the NFL in that statistic. Additionally, his seven touchdown receptions of more than 30 yards ranked as the second-highest single-season total in franchise history (Anthony Miller had 10 in 1995). He caught his seventh touchdown of 30 or more yards vs. Ind. (1/2) with a 38-yard scoring grab in a three-catch, 70-yard (23.3 avg.) effort in the Broncos’ regular-season finale. At Tenn. (12/25), he used three catches for 88 y